


A Plucked Bird Doesn’t Fly

by Sophabuggy



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Kageyama, Hurt/Comfort, abused kageyama, big brother Iwaizumi, big brother Oikawa, noncon, poor kageyama :(, rape(not overly described)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:40:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophabuggy/pseuds/Sophabuggy
Summary: It's Tobio Kageyama's first year at Kitagawa First Middle School, and Iwaizumi and Oikawa's third year. Everything seems to be fine, that is, until Iwaizumi finds out something about Kageyama's life, that ultimately brings the three unlikely friends closer together.Warnings: Abuse, mentions of and implied non-con(potential flashbacks), and triggering subject matterNo pairings but there will be plenty of platonic and brotherly love. Protective Iwaizumi and Oikawa are my life.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 15
Kudos: 131





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> This is sorta a rewrite/repost from Wattpad. The original story was titled “Dealing With Punishment” but I made it kind of a long time ago, and I have an ao3 account now, so I decided to fix it up and post it here. I hope you enjoy!

It was a Friday evening at Kitagawa First, and practice had been happening as usual. Oikawa was being his boisterous, know it all self, Iwaizumi was practicing his serves and occasional receives, and everyone else was focusing on their personal moves and tactics when it came to volleyball.

  
With a quick and steady breath out, Iwaizumi hit the volleyball he threw into the air with all his might. Soaring over the net in front of him, the ball bounced and rolled onto the whole other side of the gym. Although Iwaizumi liked practicing his serves to see how hard he could really push himself, the balls were almost always flung far away from him, making him jog to get them almost as much as he actually practiced.

As he walked under the net and over to pick up his ball no one seemed to give a damn about, Iwaizumi was pleasantly surprised to find the first year Oikawa hated so much offering it back.

"It landed closest to me, and I saw you were coming over, so I thought I could at least bring it halfway," Kageyama told the third year towering a couple inches over him in a monotone voice.

"Thanks, Kageyama," Iwaizumi replied, grabbing the ball from Tobio's hands.

Getting hold of the ball, Hajime accidentally grazed the young setter’s fingers. He didn’t think much about it, that is, until he realized Kageyama's hands hadn't dropped after taking back the ball.

Confused, Iwaizumi looked to the boy's face to try and figure out what was happening. What he was greeted with was eyes filled with terror. Iwaizumi tried to ignore the sensation making his skin crawl. Obviously something was wrong, he reasoned, but what could’ve happened to make the first year so sensitive to touch? By the looks of things, Kageyama was no where near snapping out of it to inform him, so he took matters into his own hands.

"Kageyama, look at me," Iwaizumi said to the young boy in front of him, who trembled as a response. Kageyama looked as if he’d seen a ghost, and his swallows were extremely audible, as if he was trying to keep something down. That was the last straw. Iwaizumi knew the signs of an oncoming panic attack, as much as we wished he didn’t. All Kageyama was missing was the hyperventilation, which would be best avoided.

Iwaizumi placed both hands on Kageyama's shoulders, dropping the ball, which thudded against the floor.

"Tobio, look at me," Iwaizumi whispered, knowing that drawing attention would only make things worse, "I don't know what's going on Tobio, but you're in volleyball practice right now. I'm Iwaizumi, remember? I'm your upperclassman,"

  
Iwaizumi paused for a second, waiting for a response, or at least a reaction to his words. As he got nothing from the stunned boy, Iwaizumi quickly contemplated saying something that may or may not work. He had a hunch, based off of nearly zero evidence beside his instinct, but he couldn't stop himself.

_Better to be safe than sorry_

  
"I'm not gonna hurt you Tobio," 

Tobio's flinch was all the confirmation Iwaizumi needed. He decided to not force Kageyama to talk about it at the moment, knowing now was definitely not the right time, but the hard part was deciding what was. Iwaizumi now stared at the top of Kageyama's head, who was now looking down, refusing to let Iwaizumi look at his face.

Kageyama shook violently away from Iwaizumi and went straight into the locker room, running to the toilet and kneeling right in front of it unless his dry heaving turned to actual vomiting.

Iwaizumi was left speechless and scared.

' _Should I tell somebody?_ ' He thought, ' _No don't be ridiculous. What are you gonna tell them? He flinched at something I said so now I know he might be getting bullied or hurt_ ' Iwaizumi mentally scolded himself for almost thinking as stupidly as Oikawa.

Remembering Oikawa, Iwaizumi decided to head over to his friend who was setting on and off the wall.

“What the hell did you do?" Iwaizumi asked violently, grabbing Oikawa's right arm from behind.

”Ouch! Iwa-Chan stop! Whatdya mean? Jeez let go _ow_!" Oikawa whined, making Iwaizumi loosen his grip.

"I _mean_ , did you say or do something to Kageyama that may have seemed or been a little, yknow, over the top? I know you like bullying him and stuff but seriously dude, if you-" Iwaizumi was cut off by the irritated and surprised voice of his friend.

"Woah woah woah slow down. The hell you mean? Every time I make fun of that annoying runt you're right there with me, you know that," Oikawa spit, replacing his annoyed tone with a curious one.

“Why? What happened to the brat? He's probably over reacting anyway, whatever it is, so calm down," Oikawa said to his childhood friend, who, although he hated to admit this, couldn't really disagree with Oikawa.

Iwaizumi was probably making a big deal out of nothing, and even if something did happen, it's _Kageyama_. He probably just took a hurtful comment the wrong way.

"It's...It's nothing, he just seemed really scared when I accidentally touched his hands, and he trembled a little when I touched his shoulder," Iwaizumi informed him. Oikawa pushed down the feeling of unease he felt at that description, and shrugged Iwa's hand of his arm, picking up the ball he dropped and continuing to set against the wall.

Iwaizumi told himself to stop worrying, and continued with practice for the rest of the day.

Then dark came, and practice was over. Kageyama started to help with clean up, like he had been doing for the past week, as everyone left the gym and headed to the lockers.

"So, what were you saying about the brat again?" Oikawa asked Iwaizumi who was in the middle of changing shirts.

He looked at the stuck up setter next to him and sighed.

"I don't know, it just looked like he was scared of something," Iwaizumi said as he closed his locker, too deep in thought, to notice the phone that still laid within.

“So he's afraid of messing up, who cares? Humility is what he needs, not everyone can have the _amazing_ natural talent that that he has. Plus, Everyone gets afraid during a game, no need to give him your sympathy, Iwa," Oikawa told Iwaizumi as they both gathered their bags and started walking home.

"I...I just thought he looked a little too freaked out for my liking. Let's just forget about it, it was probably nothing," Iwaizumi re-iterated as they walked home together.

Oikawa awkwardly started looking around, trying to find something to change the subject, when his eyes landed on the sky.

"Ooo look at that moon," Oikawa whistled, looking up to the sky at the full moon.

"Oh jeez, it must be pretty late," Iwaizumi said as he started digging through his pockets and school bag for his phone to look at the time and possibly text his parents he would be home late. As veins started popping out of his head, Iwaizumi angrily realized he had left his phone in the locker room.

"Goddamnit Shitty-Kawa! Your blabbering made me forget my phone. Shit shit shit they might have already locked it!" Iwaizumi shouted as he grabbed Oikawa's arm and started running towards the middle school.

”Why are you dragging me along?!"

"You were the one who distracted me, and it's dark out already! I don't know what kinda creeps are hanging around, so like hell I'm walking home alone!" Iwaizumi yelled back at his friend who was trailing behind him.

Finally making it back to the school, Iwaizumi let go of Oikawa right in front of the gym and walked in, all the way to the other side to get to the lockers. Iwaizumi felt blessed to see the lights to the locker room still on, with the door slightly ajar.

“Oh Thank God," he whispered as he jogged to the door and opened it all the way.

The scene he was met with made Iwaizumi's eyes widen, dropping his bag with a loud thud.

Before him was a shirtless Kageyama, whose back was facing Iwaizumi. His gym shirt was on the ground beside him, and he had his regular school shirt hung up on his locker. He was holding what looked like bandages, too, but the thing that scared Iwaizumi wasn't the fact the the kid in front of him was shirtless;

It was the fact that his back had been covered all over by painful looking whip marks, some looking fresh and new, others looking healed, and some even looking infected.

Some of the scars extended to his shoulders and slightly down his arms, but they never reached further than right above his elbow.

Iwaizumi also managed to notice the bloodied bandages at Kageyama's feet and realized that the bandages in his hands were probably going to to be wrapped around and over his scars, like he suspected the bloodied ones on the floor had been.

The thud off his dropped bag is what alerted Kageyama of someone behind him, making him spin around quickly and stare right into his senpai's eyes for a split second, before he dropped the bandages and took the shirt that hung on his locker, trying to cover himself.

Before Kageyama managed to shove his shirt against his chest in a vain attempt to hide anything, Iwaizumi noticed, blearily, a lot of scars up and down his chest, looking worse than the kids back; and Iwaizumi had only caught a glimpse of the front, while he stared at Kageyama's back for a good 5 or 10 seconds.

"Please leave," Kageyama sputtered out in tears, looking at the ground.

"What the hell!" Iwaizumi shouted as he angrily walked over to Kageyama and ripped the shirt that had been covering some of his wounds out the seemingly small boy’s arms. Kageyama tried reaching for it for a split second, but quickly stopped as he noticed it only made him more exposed.

Kageyama tried his best to cover himself with only his arms, but it was no use.

Iwaizumi could see basically everything.

"Tobio!" Iwaizumi shouted, ignoring his common sense telling him to calm down for a second and assess the situation.

"What the hell happened?! Or should I say has _been_ happening!" Kageyama flinched at this lowering his head as low as it could go.

“You're bleeding, you’re cover from head to toe in scars, and some of them look super infected! Haven't you gone to the doctor or something?! This is serious!" Iwaizumi shouted at the small kid in front of him.

Kageyama kept looking down, his crying starting to become more and more audible the more Iwaizumi shouted.

”I...I can't," Kageyama all but whispered, with an extreme shakiness to his voice.

"Why the hell not?!" Iwaizumi asked angrily, not really angry at the kid before him, but angry about what had been happening to him.

”Because...sh-she said it was punishment," Kageyama choked out, causing Iwaizumi to pale.

“And, Y-you have to deal with punishment," Kageyama said as he picked up the bandages on the ground, struggling to unfold them as his hands were shaking violently and tears refused to leave his eyes.

“We're going to the clinic downtown," Iwaizumi said, slightly shakily, causing Kageyama to blanch.

“We-we can't. She'll kill me, p-please, just forget you saw anything. I-I deserved it anyway-"

"Nobody deserves this!" Iwaizumi shouted as he grabbed Kageyama's right arm, that he found was unusually thin, and pulled it upwards, making Kageyama's chest fully exposed, nearly giving Iwaizumi a heart attack by the blood and scars the riddled the boys skin. Iwaizumi quickly let go of Tobio's arm as he heard him squeal in pain by the pulling, causing some of his new scars to re-open.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Iwaizumi said as he grabbed Kageyama's school shirt, put it on the boy gently, wincing at the small gasps Tobio let out, and then covered him with his own blazer.

“Listen Kageyama, these scars and cuts are serious, and if you don't get them checked out, something seriously bad will happen," Iwaizumi told Kageyama, who continued to cry and look unconvinced.

"And," Iwaizumi was thinking of how to convince him, when it suddenly popped into his head, "you won't be able to play volleyball anymore," at this, Kageyama's eyes shot up in disbelief at Iwaizumi.

"No! Volleyball is all I have left!" Kageyama shouted, crying even more now, making Iwaizumi feel a little guilty.

“Well if you let me get you checked out, I could stop what's happening to you, you'll feel better, and you'll get to keep playing volleyball," Iwaizumi told Kageyama with a hand gently on his shoulder.

Looking down, Kageyama gave a slight nod.

"Ok, that's all I need," Iwaizumi said as he opened his own locker, took out his phone and put it in his pocket.

“Alright let's go,” he said to Tobio, who looked up, face a mess from crying.

"But what about my bandages and shirt?" He asked.

“Just leave em, i'll clean up tomorrow ," Iwaizumi told Kageyama as he gently put his arm around the first year's shoulders, and pulled him close, like an older brother holds his younger brother.

After Iwaizumi picked up his school bag, him and Kageyama walked out of the gym.

“Geez what the hell took so long," Oikawa said, ticked off, while looking at his phone as he heard the gym door open.

“Were going to the clinic downtown Oikawa, tell your parents you'll be late,"

Oikawa closed his eyes and turned to the sound of the voice, "what?"

Opening them, Oikawa had to take a double take as he saw Iwaizumi clutching on to Kageyama very protectively, and Tobio holding on for dear life.

“What the? Why are you with my arch enemy!" Oikawa shouted at his childhood friend, who got angry.

"Ok first of all, he's not your arch enemy, and second of all, he needs a hospital and you’re coming with us, it'll be safer that way," Iwaizumi said very angrily, making Oikawa flinch .

“Ok ok geez. Wait, hospital?" Oikawa questioned and looked at the boy in Iwaizumi's arms. He didn't seem to be injured?

"I'll tell you when we get there," Iwaizumi said.

  
The walk to the clinic was mostly quiet and quick, with one exception of Kageyama sputtering something to Iwaizumi.

"I'm sorry if I get your blazer dirty," he whimpered.

"Don't worry about it, it'll wash out," was all Iwaizumi said, while still looking forward.

Oikawa was at a complete loss for words, that his best friend was clutching on to the boy he hated most, acting like a father. He better find out what the hell happened when they get to the clinic.

Arriving at the clinic, the three boys walked through the sliding doors.

"Ok Oikawa go sit over there. I'll join you in a second," Iwaizumi told Oikawa, who reluctantly agreed and sat down angrily, staring at the two boys who walked to the receptionist.

Iwaizumi tried hard to keep his voice down, so no one would hear him.

"Excuse me," he asked the reciptionist gently, who simply looked up at him and smiled.

“Hello there sweety. Where are your parents? I can get them a form to fill out so-"

"Actually, this is kind of and emergency," he told her.

“What? What happened sweety?" She asked the young boy, slowly standing up to look at the two boys clutching to each other.

“Um, my...friend here," he said, looking at Kageyama, bracing himself for what he had to say.

"I think he's being abused," Kageyama started clutching onto Iwaizumi even harder, "he has cuts and lacerations all over his front and back side, and he's bleeding a lot. I think some of them are infected. I just found him but I didn't want to call his parents because I don't know if they are the ones responsible, but I do know that his injuries are really bad. Please help him," Iwaizumi finally finished, tears threatening to fall.

The receptionist in front of him was at a loss for words, but eventually, she caught her footing.

"O-ok. I'm a nurse so I'll bring him back to get checked on and to get his wound treated, but, I'm sorry, I'll have to take him back alone," she said, walking to the other side of her desk and bending down to reach Kageyama's face.

Iwaizumi nodded, but he knew Kageyama wasn't going to like being alone. He slowly pulled Kageyama away from him and looked into his eyes.

"I know you don't want to be alone right now, but I promise you won't be. These people want to help you, and as much as I want to be by your side, I'm know I'm not allowed right now. I need you to stay strong for me Tobio. This nice lady only wants to help you. She'll make it all better. Do you think you can go with her?" Iwaizumi asked Kageyama, who tried his hardest to keep from crying, nodding slightly. Iwaizumi smiled and nodded at the nurse in front of them.

Smiling, the nurse held out her hand to Tobio who, after a little hesitation, grabbed it and started slowly walking with her through the doors from the waiting room to the actual clinic.

Staring as the doors in front of him went back and forth, finally closing, Iwaizumi went to finally sit down with Oikawa.

"What the hell is happening," Oikawa asked, totally dumbfounded at the new brotherly love between the boys.

Iwaizumi sighed and looked Oikawa right in the eyes.

"Listen, you can't tell anyone about this," he said.

"I don't even know what ' _this_ ' is yet!" Oikawa shouted, confused out of his goddamn mind.

“I walked into the locker room and I saw Kageyama shirtless," Iwaizumi said, looking forward, not wanting to remember.

"...so?" Oikawa asked, really getting agitated now.

Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa, finally letting his sadness seep through.

"He was covered in whip lashes and scars," Iwaizumi choked out, letting a single tear fall, "head to toe, except for the parts that were visible in school and practice. There were bloody bandages on the floor and some of the wounds still bled," he whispered.

Oikawa didn't know what to say.

"...w-what happened then?" Oikawa decided to ask, a little curious.

“I don't know, but..." Iwaizumi paused, "when I told him he needed a doctor," he paused again, fully crying now, "he said ' _it's my punishment, and you have to deal with punishment_ ' Oikawa," Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa.

“He thought he deserved that," Iwaizumi finally finished, no longer able to keep the images away. Clutching his hand to his mouth, Iwaizumi stood up and hurried to the trash can to the side of them. Luckily, the clinic was nearly empty because it was so late, so nobody, besides Oikawa, had to hear him throw up.

Shooting up, Oikawa hurried over to Iwaizumi and started patting his back.

"Geez, it was that bad?" Oikawa asked with a grimace, at both his friend in front of him, and the images that started appearing in his mind.

Rubbing at his mouth, Iwaizumi slowly looked to Oikawa, and nodded.

Looking into the black abyss of the trash can he just emptied the contents of his stomach into, Iwaizumi took a deep breath.

”Oh God,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I love angst but I also love recovery, so don't worry :)


	2. Doing Some Digging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi cleans up the mess Kageyama left, and also decides to do some digging.

As the night raged on, the two young boys sat quietly in their seats, neither talking for what felt like hours. It wasn't until an abrupt ringing that Iwaizumi moved. Sitting up, Hajime looked down at his phone previously in his pocket to the word "Mom" on the screen, with a "slide to answer" symbol.

"Fitting," he thought, "my phones looking out for me, considering I'd be dead if I declined this,"

Taking a big breath in, ready to explain to his mother why she shouldn't murder him for not informing her of his little 'adventure', he slid the phone within the green circle, and brought the screen to his right ear.

"Hey mom-"

"Where the Hell are you Hajime?!" A loud voice came from his phone, as Iwaizumi flinched his head to the left. Out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn Oikawa straightened up in his seat.

"Alright mom, I can explain," Iwaizumi said very quickly, trying to avoid the screams.

"Explain? Oh you're gonna do more than explain by the time you get home, you hear me? I don't even wanna HEAR what kinda excuse you got for this shit you hear??! You wanna know how worried I was when I got home from work to see all the lights off and door unlocked with NO information from you? Not even a Goddamn text Hajime! I thought you'd been abducted! Better yet-"

It was at this point Iwaizumi extended his arm outwards just enough that he could still hear his mother, but the specific wording was basically thrust upon deaf ears. He silently waited for her to stop ranting so he could explain himself.

"Jesus Christ," Oikawa muttered as he stared at his friend's phone.

"You should hear her when I sleep in," Iwaizumi uttered snidely.

"Hajime!" A shout came from the extended phone in Iwaizumi's hand, which quickly brought the screen back to his ear.

"Sorry! Sorry, mom, but if you just let me explain than I guarantee a lot of this would be cleared up," Iwa tried to reason with his mother, who he heard sigh on the other line.

"It better be quick" she responded lowly, anger seething in her voice.

(2 minutes of explaining later, which was eavesdropped by Oikawa because of course he did)

Once Iwaizumi finished his simplified explanation, he waited for a response from his mom, who had stayed mostly quiet for the whole thing.

"You still should've at least texted me Hajime. I was worried sick," is what came from the other line, much less rage induced than before, yet solemn.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was just kinda caught up in everything. Funny thing is I remember telling Oikawa to tell his parents. Guess I should've taken my advice," Iwaizumi joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

The line went quiet for a good couple of seconds, before Iwa's mom started talking again.

"I want you home now," was what came out. Iwaizumi's eyes widened, as he tried to say something.

"M-mom I can't just leave-"

"I understand you want to be with your friend, but I don't want my 14 year old son in some random clinic in the middle of the night," she said sympathetically, "maybe Oikawa could stay for a bit longer,"

Iwaizumi was dumbstruck. He didn't know how to respond, and his mom had already sounded as if she made up her mind,

"...can I at least do one thing before I come back," he asked quietly.

"That depends," his mother replied typically.

"The bandages I was talking about. There are a bunch on the floor at the gym in the locker room. I told Kageyama I'd clean them up later, and now is later. I also didn't lock the door, which is something the last person in the locker room is supposed to do, in case of break ins and stuff," Iwaizumi tried reasoning with his mom, half expecting her to say no outright.

Yet again, there was an almost serene silence for barely a moment, yet in that moment, Iwaizumi waited with baited breaths.

"You better be home by midnight, you hear?"

Iwaizumi smiled, "I hear, I hear," he replied.

"Thanks mom, love you,"

"Love you too, stay safe," was the last sound to come from Iwa's phone before three beeps signaling an ended call.

"Soooo," Oikawa started, getting most of the gist from the conversation he secretly listened to.

"I'm going to the gym to get Kageyama's stuff and to lock the door," Iwaizumi told his friend, who nodded and looked at the floor.

Iwaizumi sighed.

"I'm really sorry Oikawa. If I could stay I would. I know you're not best friends with him, but do you think you could stay a bit longer, just to make sure nothing happens?" Iwaizumi asked sincerely, staring at Oikawa who looked at the ground.

Oikawa murmured softly to himself.

"I'll tell my mom I'm sleeping over at your house," Tooru said to his best friend, whose eyes widened.

"...Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Iwaizumi asked himself.

"Face it Iwa-Chan, my intellect just doesn't come anywhere near yours. Don't worry though! You can be my sidekick if I ever get bitten by a radioactive spider or have to escape war torn Afghanistan!" Oikawa snidely joked, trying to brighten the mood as Hajime had just tried.

Iwaizumi stared at his friend with a raised eyebrow,

"You say all that yet you think your smarter than me?" Iwaizumi chuckled as he got up and stretched a bit.

"Oh cmon, It was a joke! I was trying to cheer you up," Oikawa tried defending himself.

"By making weird nut job quips?" Iwaizumi asked as he smirked.

"It was a Spider-Man and Iron Man reference you uncultured swine! I'm telling you, you've gotta start reading marvel, man," Oikawa said as he was glad to finally have a normal, non-tense conversation with his best friend after what felt like hours of silence and anxiety. Even if it did only last for a few seconds.

"Ya whatever," Iwaizumi replied again, now smiling as he walked towards the doors, "see ya, and thanks again Oikawa," Iwaizumi said as he was about to walk through the sliding doors.

"No problem," Oikawa replied, "stay safe man,"

Oikawa watched as Iwaizumi smiled and walked out the doors, headed towards the junior high they were previously at.

"Like going back to the crime scene," part of Oikawa's mind thought as his eyes followed his friend until he was out of range.

As Hajime walked briskly along through the dark streets, his mind was hollow. Not wanting to think about what had happened to Kageyama, he simply decided it would be best to not think at all.

He kept his head down, staring at his shoes slapping against the pavement, one after the other. Even when he had made it back to the gym, his pace did not slow until Iwaizumi recognized the tell tale door of the locker room, cracked open just slightly.

His eyes wandered up and down the door in front of him, stopping suddenly on the hand that was gently placed onto the side of said door.

Opting to close his eyes, Iwaizumi slowly pushed on the locker room door, until it was completely open. Eyes still shut, Hajime tilted his head to be facing where he had previously seen Kageyama, and prepared for what he was about to see.

Steadily, Iwaizumi's eyelids pulled back, and his sight instantly focused on the open locker. As he saw a blazer hanging onto it, his eyes suddenly focused on the bloody bandages on the ground, next to a roll of clean ones and a white shirt.

Iwaizumi stared for a minute or two, a blank expression plastered across his face. The apathy was forced, though, as Hajime knew that the moment he showed emotion, they'd all flood his senses.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Iwaizumi placed his own schoolbag down, and walked over to the bandages on the ground. First, he picked up the bloody bandages and threw them out, scrubbing his hands in the sink of the bathroom afterwards. Coming back, Iwaizumi picked up the white shirt, folded it, and placed it on the bench beside him.

Going for the blazer next, Iwaizumi could see that Kageyama's gym locker was open. Iwaizumi walked over and, after folding the blazer and placing it on top of the folded shirt, reached his hand into Kageyama's locker. He pulled out what seemed to be a dirty and ragged school bag.

After staring at it for a few seconds, Iwaizumi started to fight with himself.

" ** _I can't just look in, it's against his privacy. I've already seen him half naked_** ," one part argued.

" _It's not like he'll be mad. Besides, what if there're some clues as to what's going on? Shouldn't we help any way we can?_ " Another tried to reason.

" ** _Thats for the police to handle, I'm pretty sure this is gonna be a case, and I wouldn't want to taint any evidence_** ,"

" _You're just making excuses for yourself so that you're not plagued by the fact that you'd rather hand him off to complete strangers to deal with rather than help yourself_ ,"

" _ **I'm not. The police are trained in this. They know what to do. They can help much more than me, and much better**_ ,"

" _It's a schoolbag_ ,"

" ** _It's evidence_** ,"

" _It's. A. Schoolbag. Taking a peak won't do anything. You can hand it over to the police tomorrow and they'll be none the wiser. Don't you wanna know what's going on? What other friends do you think he'll be able to confide in. You're one of the only ones who knows what he's been going through, while also having known him beforehand. Couple that with the fact that the other guy who knows has bullied him on many occasions, don't you think you owe him what little support you can offer?_ "

Iwaizumi stared at the bag for a good minute, before kneeling down on the ground, and slowly pulling the zipper back.

Taking a deep breath, Hajime pulled the two parts apart, and stared at the inside of the bag.

The feeling that Iwaizumi had could only be explained as eerie. Like looking at the belongings of a suicide victim. Of course, there were school supplies, but somehow, they just made everything worse.

Removing the school supplies, A few things caught Iwaizumi's eye. First, there was a picture of three people. On the left, was Kageyama, smiling faintly and leaning over. On the right was a girl, a bit older than Tobio, but not an adult, also leaning and smiling. In the middle, however, was an old man in what looked to be a hospital bed, with an oxygen tube wrapped around his head, and a tired yet happy expression shown on his face.

Iwaizumi's breath stopped for a second, wondering if those people were related to Kageyama. He never really got to know people too well, especially junior teammates, so he couldn't know for sure, but if he had to guess, then it looked as though the girl was his sister and the old man was his grandfather.

" _Where are his parents_?" Hajime thought aloud. If he was going to have a family picture in his schoolbag, wouldn't he want his whole family to be in it? Suddenly, Iwaizumi's thoughts drifted to what Tobio said to him when he first saw him in the locker room.

Iwaizumi quickly shook his head, trying to only focus on one thing at a time, and to not jump to conclusions.

" ** _Leave that to the police_** " he thought, as he sifted though more stuff.

The next thing Iwaizumi saw was a small volleyball keychain, without the chain. It was made of a hard plastic, and felt durable. Smiling ever so slightly, Iwaizumi went onto something else in the bag.

Something that surprised him was the two empty packs of tictacs at the bottom of the bag, next to a half empty packet of orange ones.

"He likes tictacs huh? Never woulda guessed,"

Stumped by the abundance of tictac packs, Hajime thought it best not to dwell, and went onto the last big thing within the bag.

Two keys labeled house and window.

"Window?" Iwaizumi asked aloud. A House key he could get, but why on earth would he need a key for a window? Do they even make locks like that for windows? Usually you just turn something on the inside and the window can't be opened, no key or metal lock involved.

Iwaizumi shoved the confusion he had down as he place Kageyama's things back into his bag, along with the clean bandages on the floor, and the two shirt he folded. Zipping up said bag, Iwaizumi wondered if he had gained anything from invading Kageyama's privacy.

"I guess I know that he has a sister, and a grandfather in the hospital. Also he apparently likes tictacs," He tried to rationalize, trying to find something that would justify looking through Tobio's things.

Walking up to the locker room door, Iwaizumi turned the lock on the door to the right, picked up his bag, walked out, and closed the door. Turning the handle afterwards to make sure the door was locked, Iwaizumi walked outside of the gym and finally started to head home.

Realizing that he wasn't keeping track of time, Iwaizumi could only think of one thing.

"I hope it's not midnight,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> K so this ones a bit shorter then the other one, but once it gets back to kageyama and the others it should speed up :)  
> And yep, that's right. I'm using Kageyama's canon family. It's a bit of a spoiler from the manga, but nothing too big. I just wanted to make it as close to canon as I could outside of the intentional divergence. Hope you enjoy!


	3. Oikawa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa has some trouble comprehending his role in everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!

Oikawa stared at the ceiling above him as he sat in the waiting room chair with his head back and hands in his pockets. It had been a good half hour since Iwaizumi had left and Oikawa wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do besides wait for something to happen. He didn't want to listen to music or go on his phone. Everything just felt too sensitive for that, so Oikawa eventually resigned to letting his thoughts take over as he stayed patiently sitting in the waiting room.

As he blinked slowly, Oikawa unintentionally let his mind drift to images of how he imagined his lowerclassman had looked when Iwaizumi had walked in on him. Whip marks scattering his body, blood-soaked clothes, tears threatening to fall from pain and embarrassment. 

Oikawa shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the fowl images, but they just kept getting worse. He didn't want to see them, he didn't even want to think about them, but he couldn't stop himself. Curiosity always won over fear.

Oikawa's thoughts were cut short by the sound of clinic doors opening, and his eyes immediately followed the commotion. Sitting up straight in an instant as he realized it was the police, his attention turned to a nurse who walked through the doors that led to patient rooms. The two policemen, who looked like detectives, walked to the nurse and began having a very quiet conversation, to which Oikawa tried and failed to eavesdrop to. 

Suddenly, one of the detectives looked over at Oikawa, staring into his eyes, nearly giving him a heart attack. While the first one followed the nurse, presumably to go talk to Kageyama, the second detective made his way towards Oikawa, making the boy straighten his back as much as he could to appear as respectful as possible. 

"You came in with that boy, right?" The detective questioned without malice, despite his cold looking exterior. Earning a shaky nod from Oikawa, he continued, "What's your name, kid?"

"Uh, Tooru Oikawa. I came in with another kid, but his mom made him go home around 30 minutes ago," Oikawa answered the detective, trying to give him as much information as possible without seeming too jittery.

"Could I have a name?" The detective asked, taking out a notebook and a pen, eyes staying on Oikawa.

"Hajime Iwaizumi. He was the one who found out Kageyama was hurt. I kinda just tagged along to the hospital," Oikawa told the man in front of him.

"That's alright, I'll talk to the other kid tomorrow. Is there anything you  _ do  _ know?"

Oikawa gulped, thinking back to what Iwaizumi had told him.

"Um..." Oikawa was never into abuse and murder stories like his friends and family were. While they all loved  _ Law and Order _ and  _ Criminal Minds _ , he had always been creeped out by the stories. This was no different, especially because it was real. Eyes looking to the floor, Oikawa took a quiet breath

"He had what looked like whip marks all over his body," Oikawa started to describe, trying to remember what Iwaizumi had told him, "except for the parts that were visible during school. They bled a lot, too," Oikawa continued, as he heard scribbling from the detective in front of him.

"Anything else?"

Oikawa picked his brain for any more information before remembering something else, "he- Uh, Kageyama, I mean- he said that the wounds were punishments and that he had to deal with them when Iwa told him he had to take him to the hospital," Oikawa said, internally facepalming at how he referred to his friend, "at least, that's what Iwaiazumi said. Something along those lines, at least," he finished his explanation, eyes turning back to the detective, who was still writing something down.

"Alright Oikawa, thanks for the information. All of this will be going to helping your friend," the detective told him.

"Thanks, but he's not really my friend," Oikawa muttered under his breath, not expecting the man to hear him.

"No?" The detective asked, startling Oikawa a bit, who stuttered, trying to find an explanation.

"I mean, we're not close friends or anything, I'm just his upperclassman. We're on the same volleyball team," he said, not wanting to face the detective's curious eyes after sounding so insensitive.

"Well," the man started, turning slightly, "I have a feeling you two are gonna get a lot closer after this," he said, as he walked past the doors the nurse had come through.

Oikawa was left staring at the swinging doors that remained. He didn't know what to think. He took his phone out to look at the time.

“It's already 2 AM?” Oikawa questioned, wondering if the constant worrying and lack of sleep was getting to him, even though there were times he’d gone to bed much later. Iwaizumi didn't expect him to stay there all night, did he?

“ _ Well if he did then he's in for a rude awakening _ ,” Oikawa thought, as he stood up and took a long stretch, feeling as though his spine hadn’t been straightened in years. He’d been sitting still for nearly three hours straight, yet he was so focused on Iwaizumi and Kageyama that he’d almost forgotten about himself.

Picking up his school bag and making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, Oikawa gave one more cursory glance to the doors where Kageyama, the nurse, and the detectives disappeared through, before heading to leave.

Before Tooru could put his hand on the handle, though, he heard loud footsteps from behind him, and the sound of a door being violently forced opened, though not slammed. Oikawa quickly turned around to the noise, seeing the nurse that had talked to the detectives.

“Oh good, you're still here,” she said hurriedly, breathing slightly harder than normal.

“Um,” Oikawa started, not knowing what to say, “I…was just leaving?” is what ended up coming out, Oikawa not being able to hide his confusion.

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you think you could stay for just a little while longer?” The nurse basically pleaded, seeming desperate.

“Uh, sure. Is there... something wrong with Kageyama?” Oikawa asked, walking closer to the nurse so he wasn't basically screaming across the clinic.

“I can't say physically, but he doesn't have a phone, and we’re having trouble getting any information about his family or what happened. We asked him if he’d feel more comfortable with someone he knew and he said yes,” The nurse told Oikawa, who tried desperately to hide how surprised he was.

“He...does know Iwaizumi left, right?” Oikawa asked, stunned.

“I think anyone he's familiar with would work-” The nurse was quickly cut off by the young boy before her.

“No, no, listen,” Oikawa chuckled as he started to rub the bridge of his nose, “I don't-” Tooru swallowed hard as tried to think of something to say without seeming cold and heartless, “I'm... _ not _ his friend, alright? I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so I went to the hospital with him because it was the right thing to…” Oikawa paused and laughed a little, feeling horrible “no, I went with him because my friend made me, alright? I can’t...” 

Oikawa put his hand to his forehead, hating himself as he looked down and tried to hold in tears,

“I can’t  _ do  _ this,” He muttered, “I'm...I’m not a good person. If anything I'm more of a bully to Kageyama than his friend. If I go in there, It’ll just make things worse, trust me,”

The nurse looked at him as he tried to rub away the tears before they started to fall down his cheeks. 

“Oikawa, was it?” She asked, “The detective told me,” she added, seeing the look of surprise on Oikawa’s face, “Oikawa, I know it seems like a lot right now, and you think you're the one who’s least qualified to help, but, at this moment, I think you're the only who  _ can  _ help,” The nurse said softly with a small smile and sympathetic eyes.

“We want to help Kageyama, but we need to know what happened first. And if your presence doesn't help as you said, then you're free to go, but please, give it a try,” She asked of him. 

“For Kageyama,”

Oikawa looked at her as he gave a small, involuntary chuckle and put his hands in his pockets.

“Ya,” He exhaled, “Ok,” He whispered as he nodded his head and looked into her eyes for the first time.

_________________________________________________________________________

As Oikawa followed behind the nurse, he couldn’t help but look around him. It smelt like hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol, and he could make out a few more nurses and doctors as they walked.

“Alright Oikawa,” The nurse stopped and looked behind her, “there are some rules you have to know before you go in there,” She told him, earning a cautious nod from Oikawa.

“First, no unwarranted contact. Kageyama seems to have an aversion to it, so no touching, no holding hands, no head patting, and so on unless you ask first or Kageyama specifically says it's alright. Ok?” Oikawa shook his head up and down.

“Good, second, try not to talk too much and don't force Kageyama to do anything. If he doesn't want to talk, then that's the end of it,” She stated, not waiting for a nod this time.

“Now, third, and this is important Oikawa,” She began, earning a nervous ‘gulp’ from Tooru, “There's a chance that when the detectives start asking questions, Kageyama might look to you to see if it's alright to answer. Kageyama’s not used to doing things himself, or, rather, he's not used to having a  _ say  _ in things. He thinks everything he does has to be approved by someone like his life doesn't belong to him. I know it might be tempting to nod at him or to tell him to answer the detectives, but by doing that, although it seems harmless, would just throw him further down the rabbit hole,” the nurse told Oikawa, who just stared.

“So, what  _ should  _ I say?” He asked, getting more and more anxious as time went on

“Let him know the decision is his to make. If he doesn't want to answer them, then that's alright. Same if he  _ does  _ want to. Just let him know that it's his choice. Do you understand?,” She said to Oikawa, who gave one last shaky nod.

“Alright, follow me and stand on the opposite side of the detectives,” She said before opening the door and leading Oikawa in. 

Immediately, Oikawa noticed the near pitch blackness of the room and the beeping of a heart monitor on the right side, with two figures standing on the left, eying him.

“Kageyama, I have a friend here who wants to help,” The nurse said a lot softer to the boy lying in the bed, back slightly straightened as if he tried to sit up before.

Kageyama looked at the nurse before his eyes trailed behind her, landing on Tooru.

“...Oikawa?” He questioned, voice sounding very rough and high pitched.

The detectives looked at each other in shock with a slight smile.

Oikawa walked to the right side of Kageyama’s bed, being careful to keep his arms by his side.

“Hi, Kageyama,” He said, not knowing how to respond to the young boy who looked pale and sick in the bed.

“...Hi,” Kageyama replied, slightly confused.

“ _ I thought he didn't like me? _ ” Tobio thought.

“Kageyama,” One of the detectives broke the awkward silence that had persisted, grabbing both boys’ attention.

“Now that you have someone here with you, do you think you could answer some questions for us?” He asked Tobio, who quickly went from being uncomfortable to being extremely scared. 

Oikawa tried to hide how deeply he inhaled as Kageyama looked at him with fearful eyes.

“ _ Shit, what do I do? What did the nurse say? Shit shit shit _ ,” Oikawa tried to calm himself down internally as he continued to stare into Kageyama’s eyes. 

“...It’s ok, Tobio,” Oikawa told the horrified boy, who was on the verge of tears, “It's up to you. You...You can tell them if you want....b-but it’s alright if you don't want to,” Oikawa basically whispered as he felt tears threatening to fall. Why was  _ he  _ crying? He's not the one who was being abused, yet the sight before him made all the thoughts he’d been having in the waiting room come flooding back, as he wondered what Kageyama had endured, while he had so carelessly bullied him for simply being born different.

As Kageyama started crying and breathing heavily, he turned his head to the detectives and very gently nodded. 

“Ok,” The detective that had initially followed the nurse said, while the one that had talked to Oikawa took out his notepad and pen again.

Oikawa clenched his eyes shut quickly, and prepared himself for what he was about to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, cliffhanger ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Hospital Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama talks about what happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, at first I was gonna just not give the detectives names, because I feel like that when you kinda establish original characters in serious stories, it takes away a bit of the sincerity, if that makes sense, but just know these are not going to be fleshed out original characters. They’ll prob be recurring, but it’s not like they are going to have crazy backstories or whatever. I literally just gave them names because I was tired of writing “the detective said” or “the other detective asked” 
> 
> Also, there are no romantic ships in this fic. Just a reminder lol 
> 
> Also Also: if you have ignored the warnings, I would highly suggest you read them and take into account If you wanna read this chapter. Please do not disregard them, they are there for a reason
> 
> Anways, Enjoy!

“Could you tell me your full name?” The detective asked first, “we’re just gonna start off with a few simple questions to determine some things before we go on to the actual questions,” He told the young boys after seeing the confusion in their features.

“We’ll go first, mine’s Akira Suzuki. My partners’ here is Daisuke Yoshida,”

“Uh, Tobio Kageyama,” Kageyama told him, looking down to his legs.

“Nice to meet you, Kageyama,” Suzuki said with a smile, before beginning again.

“Do you have any family, Kageyama?” he asked softly, looking to the young boy to see if he struck a nerve.

“I have a sister, and a pop-pop,” Kageyama said as he continued to look down, not seeming to be disturbed by the question.

“Does your grandfather take care of you?” 

Kageyama’s eyes softened, “...no, he’s been in the hospital since summer of last year,”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Yoshida stated.

“It’s fine,” Tobio whispered, trying to keep his voice steady. 

Oikawa looked at Kageyama sadly, wanting so desperately to tell him he was sorry, even despite the rules the nurse had given.

“Does your sister take care of you?” 

Kageyama’s breath hitched, which was noticed by everyone in the room. As silence persisted, Oikawa looked to the nurse for an answer, earning only a small nod in response.

Swallowing, Oikawa looked to the younger boy.

“...Kageyama? Are you alright?” 

Kageyama looked to him, eyes pleading. Oikawa could see the fear in them.

“What's wrong?” He asked, crouching down slightly to get to eye level with his underclassman.

Kageyama shook his head, clenching his eyes shut.

“...I c-can't say,” he breathed, tears starting to fall slowly. Oikawa stared at him, swallowing his alarm.

“Why not, Tobio?” He asked, trying to soften his voice as much as he could. Kageyama shook his head hard, letting a few sobs out. Oikawa kept looking at him, waiting for an answer.

After a few long seconds, the room got eerily quiet, before Kageyama began again.

“...S-she said not t-to,” Kageyama choked out, close to hyperventilating. The detectives looked at each other.

“Your sister?” Yoshida asked, leaning forward as Kageyama got quieter and quieter. 

Kageyama shook his head no, still looking at his legs while he lay on the hospital bed.

“Kageyama?” Suzuki asked, signaling for the boy to raise his head. Reluctantly, Kageyama did, looking at the wall as he refused to make eye contact.

“ _ Who _ told you not to?” He questioned, earning a steady increase of breaths from Kageyama, who was having an inner battle with himself.

“...M-my babysitter,” He breathed, before turning to look at the floor, “since my grandpa can't take care of us, he hired someone who could. He didn't want my sister to watch me because she's still in school,” Kageyama told them.

The detectives looked at each other cautiously.

“Kageyama,” Suzuki started, earning a look from the small boy, “Does she hurt you?”

Kageyama didn't answer, earning glances from the detectives.

“Tobio?” Oikawa asked gently.

As tears flowed, Kageyama stiffly nodded, earning wide eyes from Oikawa, even though he already knew the answer. But it was different hearing it from Tobio himself.

“Could you tell us her name?” Suzuki questioned calmly.

Kageyama stayed silent for a small while.

“Hara...Himari” 

Yoshida wrote down the name, while Suzuki continued with the questions.

“Kageyama, what does she do to you?” He asked. Oikawa prepared himself for what he was about to hear.

“She..” Tobio took deep breaths before continuing, “She makes me clean the house, and m-make dinner, and if I don't do it right-” Kageyama caught his breath, unable to continue.

Before the detective could finish Kageyama’s thought, another voice beat him to it.

“She hits you?” Oikawa whispered sadly, earning a solemn nod from Kageyama. Oikawa quickly slapped his hands over his mouth, turning his head to the nurse, who had wide eyes. She was about to say something, when Suzuki put a hand up, signaling that it was ok.

After a few seconds, the detectives continued on.

“Kageyama, could you give us some examples of what she does? Say, if you didn’t clean everything up in time?” Suzuki asked, earning a shiver and slight whimper from the young boy.

“Sometimes, s-she would just hit me, if she was in a good mood,” he told them, voice getting quieter with each sentence.

The detectives frowned at each other. 

“And if she wasn’t?”

Kageyama tried to keep his eyes open as the tears continued to multiply. Wiping them away roughly with his hospital gown sleeve, he sniffed and took a deep breath.

“S-sometimes, she w-would use one of my Grandpa’s belts,” he cried softly, taking quick breaths before continuing, “and w-when she got really mad, she would use a k-knife... ” Kageyama looked down, praying they’d be able to fill in the blank, as he couldn’t bring himself to say anymore.

Oikawa didn’t think he could handle it anymore. At this point, he was starting to feel nauseous, as his stomach twisted with the new found information. He was also afraid he was going to do something to upset Kageyama, and make him reluctant to tell the rest of what had happened, but inwardly, he didn’t think that was such a bad idea. Kageyama obviously didn’t want to keep on going, and Oikawa didn’t want to hear anymore for the rest of his life. He’d always heard stories of child abuse. Sometimes he'd see them on the news, and would get a little sad before he went to school, but that was the end of it. The stories always felt disconnected with Tooru’s reality, as if they were a part of a criminal tv show, and not everyday society.

He never thought it would happen to someone he knew.

Oikawa was snapped out of his thoughts by yet another question.

“Kageyama, is there anything else she did to you?”

For Kageyama, the room went ice cold. He felt as though he couldn’t breathe. He knew he was going to tell them eventually. He knew he couldn’t lie after telling them so much. But he didn’t know what to do. He felt as though he’d die if he said what they wanted to hear.

After a few moments, the nurse leaned her head in.

“Kageyama?” She asked quietly, earning a flinch from the boy, and quicker breaths then before, nearing hyperventilation.

Turning to the detectives, the nurse whispered something that neither Kageyama or Oikawa could make out, each concentrated on something else.

“Tobio?” Oikawa whispered, earning a slight reaction in the form of a short and pained glance from the small boy in the bed.

Gripping his chest, Kageyama bent over and started taking small and fast gasps for air, worrying Oikawa greatly.

“What’s going on?” Oikawa asked the nurse, whose head snapped back to the boy. 

“I need everyone to step out of the room for a few minutes while I calm him down,” she told everyone, Oikawa specifically, who was closest and most worried about Kageyama.

“But-“

“Now,” she repeated sternly, “just until I calm him down,”

Looking back over to Tobio, Oikawa reluctantly walked out of the room behind the detectives.

A few minutes passed of heavy breathing and panicked pacing outside the room.

Yoshida sighed, “Calm down kid, he’s just having a panic attack. He’ll be fine,” he told Oikawa, who stopped in his tracks and looked at him.

“Are you sure?” He asked hurriedly.

“I’ve seen panic attacks before, and trust me, that’s nowhere near as bad as they can get. The fact that the nurse told us to wait rather than to just come back tomorrow is also another sign it isn’t too serious,” he told the stressed boy, who calmed down considerably.

“When will we be able to go back in?” Tooru asked, looking at the door to the room.

“I’d say in about a half hour at most, but it’ll probably be shorter than that,” Suzuki responded, looking to the boy, “why do you care so much anyway?”

Oikawa looked back at the man, offended, “I just listened to my friend explain how he was abused and watched as he had a panic attack. You’re saying you _wouldn’t_ care?”

The detective smirked gently, “No, but I thought you weren’t his friend,”

Oikawa’s eyes widened as he blushed.

A few seconds passed before he started tripping over his words, “He-he’s not! What, am I not allowed to be worried about a guy that I go to school with? You don’t have to be friends with someone to hope that they’ll be alright!” He exclaimed, face getting redder at each sentence.

“Alright alright, whatever you say kid,” Suzuki muttered with his hands up, letting his head rest on the back of the chair and staring up at the ceiling.

Oikawa stared at the man, then turned his head to the ground, embarrassed, as he tried to forget the situation.

20 minutes passed before the hospital door opened. Quickly, the detectives stood up straight and awaited for what the nurse had to say.

“Ok, I’m assuming you understand that he just had a panic attack, but luckily it wasn’t severe. We didn’t have to sedate him, but I’m afraid if it happens again, it might lead to that. Panic attack severity usually increases with each one that occurs, so I’m going to have to ask you to only ask a few more questions, and to keep an eye on your wording,” she told the two detectives, who nodded their heads gently. The nurse turned her head to Oikawa, who flinched.

“I asked Kageyama if he still wanted you in there for the rest of the questioning, and said yes,” she told him with a small smile, “well, more like  _ shook _ yes,”

“He...he did?” Oikawa asked, surprised.

The nurse nodded, her expression saying something along the lines of  _ ‘I told you’ _

“Anyway, you can follow me back in, but please try to keep your voices down for the time being,” She told more than asked, as she led the three back into Kageyama’s hospital room.

As everyone got back to the spots they were before, Kageyama looked up with sad eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said to the detectives, who both looked shocked.

“Kageyama, there’s nothing you have to feel sorry for. None of this is your fault,” Suzuki told the young boy.

“I couldn’t answer your question,” He whimpered.

“That’s alright kid, if you can’t bring yourself to answer it, you don’t need to, we’ll just go onto something else, ok?” 

Kageyama looked to Oikawa first, who had a gentle smile on his face, before looking back down, and shaking his head, “No, I-I can answer,” he whispered, “I have to,”

The detective looked at each other, Yoshida shrugging. With slight worry, Suzuki turned back to Kageyama.

“Alright then. Kageyama, is there anything else your babysitter did to you?” Suzuki asked calmly. Oikawa took a deep breath, and tried to calm his shaking.

Kageyama nodded, before taking a large breath, and shutting his eyes as hard as he could, “s-sometimes, she’d bring a g-guy over with h-her. She said it was her b-boyfriend,” Kageyama paused.

The detectives kept quiet, waiting to see if he was going to continue.

After a few beats, he did.

“H-he said he was part of the y-yakuza, a-and that he’d murdered p-people,” Tobio shuddered at the memory of the man.

“Did  _ he _ do anything to you, Kageyama?” Suzuki asked, having a faint idea of where this was going, as much as he despised it.

Kageyama sniffled, before quickly nodding.

“...Sometimes, when he came over with Himari, he’d be really mad. A-and he’d take me up t-to the bedroom,” Kageyama was sobbing as he continued, trying not to break apart, “a-and…”

Tobio didn’t know how to describe what had happened without throwing up.

“Did he touch you inappropriately Kageyama?” Suzuki questioned quietly, eyes soft at the realization.

“He d-didn’t just t-touch,” Kageyama whispered hoarsely, head hurting as he continued to cry.

“He forced you to…” Suzuki tried to find a description that the boy would understand, “do inappropriate things with him?”

Finally, Kageyama slowly nodded, as the detectives’ faces softened, and the nurse made sure to remember to tell the doctor.

Oikawa felt like he was going to pass out. He was staring at Kageyama blankly, chest heaving up and down as his eyes refused to blink. 

“ _ Kageyama,”  _ he thought, “... _ was raped?” _

Oikawa quickly realized why Tobio had started having a panic attack earlier, as he felt like something similar was coming to him, and he was just the one who  _ heard _ it. Kageyama was the one to go  _ through _ it.

  
  


Oikawa forced himself to look around, so that he’d get back to his senses and  _ not _ pass out right then and there. Looking to the detectives conversing, he saw Suzuki look back to Kageyama.

“Alright Kageyama, I think that’s enough for today,” He told the small boy, who still had tears running down his face.

“We’re sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused,” Yoshida said to Kageyama and the nurse, who nodded in understanding.

Saying this, both the detectives left the room.

“I have to go talk with the detectives about later days, and tell the doctor about the new information we have. Is it ok if I leave you two here?” The nurse questioned, earning a nod from both kids, before leaving the same way the detectives did.

A few moments of deafening silence passed.

“I’m sorry,” Oikawa muttered, earning a confused look from Kageyama.

“W-what?” He asked shyly. 

Oikawa frowned, “for...y'know,” seeing the dumbfounded look on the kid’s face, Oikawa groaned, “for bullying you, dumbass,” he said, not meaning for the last word to slip out.

Kageyama stared at Oikawa, who was looking at the floor in shame.

Oikawa kept his eyes glued to the floor, until he heard small sobs coming from the bed. Quickly darting back to the Kageyama, he saw the boy with his head in his hands, crying gently.

“Tobio?” Oikawa questioned worriedly, scared he had made the boy sad.

Reaching his hand out to Kageyama, but refraining from touching him, he heard the boy whisper something.

“ _ Thank you,” _ he said, puffy red eyes turning to look up at Oikawa, who could no longer hold back his own emotions. 

As if both boys had the same idea, Oikawa and Kageyama leaned close to each other, and hugged one another tightly.

“It’s gonna be ok…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. I sure did. I got sad while writing this at 12 am :D


End file.
